Gaming personal computers strive to compete with reality itself in rendering virtual worlds at the highest available frame rates and resolutions. Not only do these gaming PCs employ the fastest central processing units (CPUs), but they also employ even more powerful graphics processing units (GPUs). And, as gaming PCs have pushed the development of CPUs and GPUs, they have also presented challenges on the components that surround these processors.
While CPUs are often located on a motherboard, graphics processors are typically found on add-in cards such as PCI-E (Personal Component Interconnect Express) cards that are inserted into PCI-E sockets on a motherboard. The PCI-E slots provide electrical connectivity and some support, but most need to be secured at one end with a screw that attaches one end of a PCI-E card to a computer chassis.
Together, the PCI-E connector and the attached end suffice to secure small cards in a stationary computer. However, they are not adequate to secure massive graphics cards during shipping or other substantial movement. Accordingly, retention mechanisms can be attached to the chassis to limit movement of the distal end of full-length (12″) PCI-E cards. Extenders can be added to shorter cards so that they too can be secured at both ends.
High-end graphics cards consume a lot of electricity and thus require large power supplies. The power supplies, graphics cards, CPUs and other active computer components dissipate a lot of heat—so much heat, in fact, that conventional forced air cooling is not always adequate. Some high-end gaming PCs use liquid cooling to deal with the heat buildup associated with all these high-end data-handling components.
Liquid-cooled systems flow water or other coolant in proximity to heat-generating components, so that the coolant absorbs the dissipated heat. The heated water flows through a radiator, which removes heat from the coolant so that it can recycle through the computer and continue to remove heat. Powerful fans can be used to force air by the exterior of the radiator to maintain the temperature gradient needed to remove heat from the coolant. Placement of the radiator and fans is problematic. Placing them outside of the computer chassis is awkward, but it is difficult to find a convenient location for them inside the chassis.
Furthermore, the heated radiator and the high-speed fan blades are safety concerns. Grills are required to let air pass through the radiator and fans, while preventing fingers from entering potentially harmful areas of the computer.
So it can be seen that gaming PCs and other cutting-edge computers require more than just fast processors, they require many additional components such as liquid-cooling channels, radiators, radiator fans, grills, PCI-E card extenders, retention mechanisms, and so on. All these additional components add to the complexity of the incorporating systems, raising costs and adversely affecting reliability by adding more points of possible failure.
Herein, related art is described to facilitate understanding of the invention. Related art labeled “prior art” is admitted prior art; related art not labeled “prior art” is not admitted prior art.